External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

[mpboyle]

Has anyone tried using an external bluetooth GPS receiver with Collector?  If so, how has it performed and what model/make is the receiver?  We're looking to get sub-meter accuracy using Collector and am curious if anyone has had success doing this.

Thanks in advance!

[KenanMcGuffey]

Is anyone using Altus products?

[BryanMc]

Not sure if this post can help anyone: ArcGIS Collector External GPS Options - Spatial Times

It doesn't discuss Altus products, but does discuss other external GPS options from Bad Elf, Garmin Glo, and iSX Blue II. They are all great, just depends on your exact needs and budget.

[AaronWeier2]

Hi All,

Thanks for all the posts. It's lead me to more info that's been really helpful. However, I'm not seeing much in terms of vertical accuracy specs in these discussions nor do I see much for vertical specs (with some exceptions) on the vendor product pages. What am I missing?!? Anyone have some info on vertical accuracy?

Thanks!

Aaron

[KenanMcGuffey]

I know vertical accuracy costs a lot of money. Most of the units talked about in this thread aren't going to do that great vertically. Depending on what you need you will most likely have to go survey grade.

[MichaelDavis3]

You may be interested in this Kickstarter project that just got funded:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1101202238/connect-any-high-precision-gnss-unit-over-bluetoot?r...

It is a dongle that connects to a variety of GPS units from the major manufacturers (any that support NMEA output) and then connects to an iOS device via bluetooth and provides the data stream.  This will get you sub-meter from any device that supports it using real-time WAAS correction.

From the same programmer who did the bluetooth connectivity for the iSXBlue so I expect it to work as advertised.  He will also be offering a paid app to do on-device NTRIP correction which has the potential to get you CM level accuracy.

[GeraldHeston]

I have a Dual Electronics XGPS150A Bluetooth receiver and it worked well with an iPhone 5S and Collector. I tried it with a Dell Venue 8 Pro tablet with Windows 8.1 and ArcPad as well - it worked for the first couple of outings, but now I can't pair the GPS with the tablet. I think this is mostly the Dell tablet's problem - it's really a piece a junk and doesn't work well for anything. I'd like to try the Dual GPS with an Android tablet.

[EmilyFoster]

I had that problem with the Dell Venue 8 Pro and ArcPad as well (with iSX Blue II GNSS). No problem with the receiver, it pairs well to any smartphone. After Dell updates the wifi/bluetooth settings on the tablet went a bit weird. I re-installed updates, and removed and re-paired the bluetooth reciever. Then I tried switching between each of the different COM ports (go to GPS settings in ArcPad, and try out each of the COM Ports). That got it to work for me after about an hour or two of troubleshooting. The only problem with an android tablet is that you can't use ArcPad . . .

[GeraldHeston]

When I first got the Dell, a Windows update messed up the Bluetooth functionality, but Dell tech support was able to remove the update and fix the problem. That was last summer, so a new update might have done the same thing.

Regarding the accuracy of the Dual GPS - qualitatively, it looks good. Last week I turned it on for the first time in several months, and it took almost an hour to "find itself". In Collector for iOS the GPS dot was showing >100 feet south of where I was. The Dual GPS app said estimated accuracy was 16 feet, so that wasn't right. Eventually it fixed itself. I realize it needed to download the current GPS almanac before it could accurately locate itself, but an hour is a long time to wait when you want to get to work.

The Dual GPS advertises +/- 2.5 m accuracy with SBAS.

I haven't really tested it quantitatively. I wish that Collector would display useful coordinates.

[BryanWilson1]

Has anyone tried any of the Arrow series units by EOS?

Arrow Series – Eos Positioning Systems I am currently looking into these as well as the iSXBlue receiver for use with iPads for field collection for wastewater utility.

[MichaelDavis3]

We've been actively exploring picking up an EOS Arrow 100 or 200 to add to our existing iSXBlue units... but it doesn't seem like they are actually out and available in the sales channel just yet.

We are interested in picking up an Arrow vs. an additional iSXBlue because of the significantly increased Bluetooth range, as well as the ability to use OmniStar for correction in locations where it is tough to acquire SBAS signals.

One of our folks talked with the EOS rep at the ESRI Dev Summit and they mentioned that EOS was formed by folks who came from Geneq (manufacturer of the SXBlue) specifically including the guy who created the Bluetooth stack for the iSXBlue model.  We haven't been able to get an evaluation unit just yet, but we expect good things.

That said we have been VERY happy with our current iSXBlue fleet.  The are reliable and work as advertised... delivering a .7 meter signal in real time, most of the time.  The only time we have issues is when we are in an environment where we can't get access to the SBAS signal or in dense canopy.